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Arabia
Convoy boom at Queen of Sheba temple kills seven Spanish tourists
2007-07-02
Seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni drivers were killed on Monday when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into their convoy at an ancient temple in Yemen on Monday, officials said.

The interior ministry said the bombing in the restive northeastern region of Marib appeared to be the work of the Al-Qaeda network. "Preliminary information indicates that the Al-Qaeda organisation is behind the cowardly attack," an interior ministry official told the Saba news agency. "This criminal attack has killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni nationals who worked as drivers and tourist guides, and wounded six Spanish tourists and two (Yemeni) nationals."

Witnesses told AFP the attack occurred as the tourists were wrapping up a tour of a temple in Marib which dates back 3,000 years to the time of the biblical Queen of Sheba.

The ministry official said the convoy which was carrying 13 tourists was attacked by an "explosives-laden car driven by a suicide terrorist." In Madrid, an official had said earlier that six Spanish tourists had been killed and seven others injured in the attack. Witnesss said the blast took place around 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) in Marib, 170 kilometres (about 106 miles) east of the capital Sanaa, an area rich in archeological treasures and popular with tourists.
Posted by:Seafarious

#12  The bus tour of East Rutherford, NJ must have been booked.
Posted by: Super Hose   2007-07-02 22:29  

#11  Dayum, mhw beat me to it.

Also outraged about their drive to destroy the world's history. That shrine belongs to all of us.

Yes, and as mhw noted such historic shrines are no more than Islamic urinals. If in doubt, I refer you to the Wailing Wall.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-02 20:11  

#10  For Al Q and for Islam of the 4 normative judicial schools the Queen of Sheba Temple doesn't deserve to stand. To them it is from the unenlightened age before Mohamot (like the Bhuddist Relief in Afghanistan) and is worse than valueless because it is a reminder of the era before the last prophet.

Of course to the Yemani Tourism Bureau, the Temple is an important asset. Thus the strike makes a great deal of sense from the Al Q point of view. Not only do you kill infidels striking terror into their heart but destroy the jahiliya (think from the dark times).
Posted by: mhw   2007-07-02 16:19  

#9  Yep, sad and pointless. Did the temple sustain significant damage?

I hope the local popo are piecing together just how AQ knew exactly where and when to hit them. Also, was it a euro/amer tourist target of opportunity or did they know they were whacking spaniards?
Posted by: Broadhead6   2007-07-02 15:59  

#8  Also outraged about their drive to destroy the world's history. That shrine belongs to all of us.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-07-02 15:46  

#7  I'm all for "live and let live", and this continuous stream of pointless, base killings of ordinary people in iraq, Thailand, UK, Spain,... is disgusting.

Welcome to Islam. All of this is straight out of the Koran.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-07-02 15:46  

#6  They are probably retirees on an organized trip, they really didn't deserve to die like this; no matter what I think about the spanish gvt, this is sad to see innocents die (and I'm counting the two drivers in that, for that matter). I'm all for "live and let live", and this continuous stream of pointless, base killings of ordinary people in iraq, Thailand, UK, Spain,... is disgusting.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-07-02 15:44  

#5  This also says a lot about how degraded Al-Quada is. They have to go after the people that have already surrendered in a country friendly to them.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-07-02 15:36  

#4  Until the Spanish decide to get in it to win it I could care less what the Orcs do to them.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-07-02 15:32  

#3  Yep kill a couple of Spanish and the Spanish Socialist deal machine will be on its way.
Posted by: Elmusonter Guelph3676   2007-07-02 15:27  

#2  ...an area rich in archeological treasures and popular with tourists.

Yeah, but it's still in Yemen.
No thanks.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-07-02 15:23  

#1  How's that appeasement deal working for ya, Zapatero? Your UNIFIL guys and now this.

You have to be a really dedicated or adrenaline-addicted tourist to want to go to Yemen, I would think.
Posted by: Glenmore   2007-07-02 14:59  

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